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I had posted on this, and as all my posts, it feed to my Twitter account to which Brian retweeted and a conversation with another tweeter began. Since then, a good friend whom I’ve ever met via Facebook has done some marvelous work on lining out the very biblical reasons why the rapture mentality (I almost put mental in italics, but I didn’t out of respect of those who believe the rubbish) is very false. For me, I still refer back to John Locke (not from TV’s Lost) and his quote that some force submission by stating that they have the facts and then challenging others to disprove it. In my opinion, the Rapture hearkens back to the days of not reading the text. One has to do some mental loops to maintain the doctrine (I’m not being mean, really, because I am talking about maintaining vs. misunderstanding) the doctrine, as you can see on the post above.
You cannot compare the Rapture to the Trinity. The Trinity has seeds in the New Testament, whether or not you agree that it is a logical outcome of those seeds. The Rapture, however, has been implanted into our reading of the Text 1900 years (or so) after the original writings. See? Big difference. Further, if you actually would seek to understand what Paul was writing, then the picture becomes clear.
Brian has since posted his own response,
The word ἁρπαγησόμεθα does indicate a future event where we are quickly “seized” into the air (hence, the Vulgate rapio and the English rapture). But this does not mean we stay in the air. Again, this is Christ’s “coming”. This is his “descent” from heaven. This is his “appearing”. If there is something known as a “Great Tribulation” then I am convinced Christ’s return would be afterward because when Christ comes we meet him to welcome him and this signifies Christ’s victory over death and evil. Resurrection has occurred.
You can and should read the rest here:
Brian has, I believes accurately summed up the text and the meaning of said text which falls well within the framework offered by Church History and the Text Itself. Further, anyone who quotes Tom Wright…
But, I digress. Let me add that I agree with his statement regarding the so-called ‘Great Tribulation’ although admittedly, I do not see it as a one time event, nor do I see much value in combining eschatology and the book of Revelation…
Related articles
- There’s no dystopia as campy as a post-Rapture dystopia [Video] (io9.com)
- Those Crazy Rapturists! You Gotta Love ‘Em! (diglot.wordpress.com)
- Calvin on 1st Thessalonians 4.17 (thechurchofjesuschrist.us)
- The foundation of the Rapture doctrine is rooted in boasting (lambanddragon.wordpress.com)
- When Will The World End? Date of Rapture, May 21st 2011? (nowpublic.com)
Joel L. Watts holds a Masters of Arts from United Theological Seminary with a focus in literary and rhetorical criticism of the New Testament. His interests include exploring the role of mimesis in human civilization, specifically in the study of religion and media, as well as science fiction and the way in which it has allowed mythology to be explored in light of scientific discoveries of the past century. He is the author of Mimetic Criticism of the Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Commentary (Wipf and Stock, 2013) and a co-editor and contributor to From Fear to Faith: Stories of Hitting Spiritual Walls (Energion, 2013).
Website: → Unsettled Christianity
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It has been my contention for years that the “theology” of the “rapture” is little more than extremely bad (as opposed to merely bad) proof-texting run amok combined with an entirely non-Jesus like desire to rejoice at the destruction of ones enemies at the hands of some vengeful savior. Thanks for your posts challenging this “theology.”
Thanks, Tracy. As a friend said, the rapture myth is violent, and I believe that it does violent things to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Thanks for mentioning the post!
Thanks for providing an easy ‘go-to’ post for further discussion!
[...] (1 Thess. 4:17) does not refer to the popular idea of the “Rapture.” Joel Watts posted similar thoughts. Matthew Malcolm suggested that discussing what happens after the “meeting in the air” [...]